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“I just thought we finally hit. We pitched really well,” Goldpanners field manager Carlos Gonzales said after the championship. “This tournament was filled with good teams, and it showed our pitching was better than everybody’s. When we wanted to hit, we really hit."The title marked the Goldpanners’ first GFI championship since 2019 and was one of the team’s primary goals heading into the season.

“I think it means a great deal for Fairbanks. We won that first game, and then I started getting texts from people in Fairbanks about ‘good stuff’, ‘congrats’, ‘go get it done’ — it’s a big deal, everyone wants the Goldpanners to win,” Gonzales said. “John [Lohrke] talks about it all the time — Midnight Sun Game, Canada, Wichita — let’s go win all three. Unfortunately we didn’t get the Midnight Sun Game, but we’re going to get the other two.”

Semifinals: Goldpanners outlast Studs in 15-inning semifinal win, 6-4

In the first game of the day, the Goldpanners outlasted the Seattle Studs by a score of 6-4 in a 15-inning rematch thriller.

The semifinal contest tied the tournament record for the longest game in its history, with both teams battling through six extra innings. The marathon featured a combined 114 at-bats, split evenly at 57 apiece.

The Goldpanners, playing as the home team, walked it off with a two-run homer from Evan Rolbiecki in the bottom of the 15th — one of two home runs for Alaska. Ian Armstrong delivered the other, a game-tying solo shot in the 11th. The team finished with 15 hits.

Rolbiecki and Efren Ortega each went 3-for-7 to lead the offense. Five Goldpanners recorded multiple hits, including Garrett Davidson, Armstrong and Luke Schermer.

Despite the combined 10 runs, only two came in the first nine innings. Alaska took a 1-0 lead in the fourth, with Seattle responding in the fifth. The score remained tied until extra innings, where the scoring resumed in the 11th.

The Studs took the lead twice in extra innings, coming first at 2-1 in the 11th, then again at 4-2 in the 14th. Both times, the Goldpanners answered in the bottom half to even the score. They finally broke through in the 15th on the walk-off, two-run homer by Rolbiecki for the 6-4 win.

Throughout the contest, six pitchers took the mound for the Goldpanners. Starter Luke Sarantos went 4.2 innings, allowing one earned run on three hits while striking out seven and walking two.

He was followed by Brent Godina, Jonah Walker, Jack Clark, Hunter Beck and Conner Wolf. The staff combined for 22 strikeouts, with Walker’s six ranking second behind Sarantos. In total, the bullpen covered 10.1 innings of relief.

The hard-fought semifinal was only the first of two games on the day for the ‘Panners, who returned to the field later that evening for the championship contest. There, they faced the Grand Forks Slag Dusters, the tournament’s hometown team, who were coming off a dramatic 12-11 win over the Northwest Honkers in their own semifinal.

Championship: Goldpanners rally to down Slag Dusters for GFI championship

Wild semifinal results set the stage for a championship clash, where the Goldpanners aimed to cap their run at the GFI with an undefeated finish across both pool and playoff play. In another eventful contest, Alaska delivered, claiming the title with a 9-7 victory over the Grand Forks Slag Dusters.

The early innings were packed with offense. Alaska racked up 10 hits in the first two frames, jumping out to a 5-1 lead after a four-run second inning. However, the Slag Dusters responded with two runs in the third and four in the fourth to take a 7-5 lead into the middle innings.

Now trailing, the Goldpanners found their rhythm between the fifth and seventh innings.

David Shackelford brought in a run on a fielder’s choice in the fifth to make it 7-6. In the seventh, they rallied for three more, starting with a solo home run by Schermer, followed by a two-run double from Davidson that gave them a 9-7 lead.

The Goldpanners held on from there, completing the comeback and securing a perfect 7-0 tournament run. The win marked their first GFI championship since 2019.

The Goldpanners’ offense stayed hot, producing 16 hits in the championship win. Five players recorded multi-hit games, including Schermer (3-for-5), Rolbiecki (3-for-5), Ortega (2-for-2), Davidson (2-for-4) and Shackelford (2-for-4).

Conner Wolf started on the mound, going 3.0 innings with three earned runs, four strikeouts and six hits allowed. He was followed by Godina and Matthew Gonzales.

Gonzales’ outing proved crucial. After playing seven games in six days, including the 15-inning contest earlier that same day, the pitching staff was stretched thin. Gonzales delivered a lengthy, efficient outing, tossing 5.0 shutout innings with six strikeouts and one walk.

“He’s my brother, first base coach and pitcher. Heading into that last game, you have an arm and a half left after going 15 innings. So, he wanted to pitch,” Gonzales said. “He dominated. He just went out there and threw strikes — you do that at any level, and you’re going to get outs.”

After the tournament run, the Goldpanners’ season record stands at 15-5. They return to Fairbanks for their next appearance, hosting the Pro-Am All-Stars at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday to kick off a six-game series between the teams.